Age Related Shrinking (Height)

[cmcole]

excerpted from:http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/health/aging.html

INDEPTH: HEALTH
Strength, brain power and shrinking through the ages
CBC News Online | Updated Aug. 5, 2006

According to most studies, the human brain stops growing in its early 20s, after which it starts to contract. (CBC)
Having just turned 60, George W. Bush submitted himself for his annual check up. White House doctors declared the U.S. president exceedingly fit for a man his age — he's an exuberant bicyclist — but they also noted he is a quarter of an inch shorter than he was just a year ago.

[mcsblues]

What a pity they didn't check his brain size while they were at it ;)

Normal loss of height has nothing to do with bone density, it is the caused by the contraction in the gaps between vertebrae caused by compression and shrinkage of the discs. By definition, bones do not decrease in size because they become less dense - OTOH severe osteoporosis can cause vertebrae to be crushed and deteriorate to the extent that curvature of the spine and the resultant posture also affects height, but this is not the normal age related height loss referred to in the article.

[banshee]

I've recently been reading some interesting studies about doctors who have been able to increase bone density in women with progesterone cream. I'll have to dig up the relevant articles again, but in one of them a doctor treated an 80 year old women and was able to increase her bone density by 40 percent! The implication was that the decrease in bone density as women enter menopause wasn't necessarily permanent and could be reversed, even after years of loss.

Edit: Here's the links to a couple research abstracts. I haven't found the original reference yet, but these show that at the least, natural progesterone cream will prevent bone loss... apparently so will soy isoflavones as long as you don't take them along with progesterone.

Transdermal progesterone cream for vasomotor symptoms and postmenopausal bone loss. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10432132)
(Full article link (http://www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/full/94/2/225))

Soymilk or progesterone for prevention of bone loss--a 2 year randomized, placebo-controlled trial. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=15309425&dopt=Abstract)

(Some scientific sites claim that estrogen increases bone density while other claim it doesn't... looks like I need to do a bit more research on this...)

Second edit: Here's the initial research that seems to be the one everyone quotes: Osteoporosis Reversal, The Role of Progesterone (http://www.naturodoc.com/library/hormones/osteo_rev.htm)
Sadly, there aren't a lot of research studies, because natural progesterone is not "patentable".

[laughingW]

In the CST exercise system we have people doing simple joint mobility circles who gain height, typically about an inch, even in their 50s. Teresa Tapp's workouts report the same thing.

Joints get fluid by moving around, no other way. So much of "age related loss of function" is simply under-use.

I bet Bush does not do any joint mobility or any compensating moves for all the repetitive motions of bike riding, so he's not doing anything for his joints or spine in particular. Old style thinking of moving just to move calories or to get the exercise high.

[Kathy]

What a pity they didn't check his brain size while they were at it ;)

I think they tried to, but they couldn't find it. :eek:

[Missy]

http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoticons4u/happy/516.gif tooooooo funny! lol

[daisy]

Wow very interesting but now i'm a bit freaked out......

As an adult from a short family i was very relieved to reach the lofty height of 5ft 3inches, then i had surgery when i was 34 to remove L4/L5 disc and S1 disc and i came out of it 5ft 2inches tall and now i'm reading i'm going to lose more :eek:

i guess i should learn to take the hem up on my trousers cos the petite fitting 5ft 3inch standard in UK is just about too long lol

daisy xxx

[laughingW]

Daisy, exercise and you won't notice any height loss for years and years.

The article said, "joints dry up." but they don't if you wash them every day with spinal fluid. But the only way to wash them is to move them through their entire range of motion.

sorry to harp on this but it really bugs me when *they* reinforce the idea that it's aging when really it's underuse.

[deirdra]

When I hit 50 & was 50 lbs heavier, I measured my height for the first time since I was ~18 and found I was only 5'5.3" tall when I stood as straight as humanly possible without going up on tiptoes. After having been 5'6" in my late teens, I chalked it up to age-related shrinking since my mother has lost over 3 inches.

A few weeks ago I noticed that I seemed taller than the mark on my bathroom door edge and measured again. Much to my surprise, I am 5'6" again - I measured several times because I couldn't believe it, but it is true! The extra weight must have been pulling down on my spine, and when I lost it, my spine straightened up again. And of course now that I am taller, my BF% calculation is even lower.

[LisaS]

could be time of day too - you are taller in the morning when your intervertebral disks are plump

[deirdra]

All measurements were taken first thing in the morning, so I really am taller.

[Grandma Moe]

I was 5'10" tall all through high school. After I had five kids I was 5'8 1/2" tall for over twenty years. Then I went to a massage therapist who did "Rolfing" She said that if you went to someone that had not been trained in quality of touch, (which I guess massage therapists should understand) that few people ever finished the ten sessions. Well I finished and am 5' 10" tall again. I guess the muscles in my chest had pulled forward and a muscle I think she called the psoaris muscle in my back were the main problems. They held my bones in an unnatural position and I simply could never stand comfortably unless my knees were locked, (which is very bad for you) but when she got done with me I can quite comfortably stand straight for a long time now. She moved muscles around until they were back in the places they were supposed to be. Pregnancies did my posture in even after I wasn't still pregnant, but this really helped for me.
Moe

[Shadow]

Moe - It's great to see you here :D! I wanted to pop in and say 'hello' to you :). Okay, now I'll let you get back to the subject at hand :p.